Can ‘pride’ carry the Vols past Kentucky?
KNOXVILLE — With the sweat still on his brow from a 45-7 loss at Alabama, Tennessee offensive lineman Brett Kendrick was asked last Saturday about his team’s next opponent.
The redshirt senior from Knoxville offered a blunt take as he momentarily abandoned the pain of a third straight loss to think about playing Kentucky this week.
“We take pride in beating them, to be honest with you,” Kendrick said.
The Volunteers have won their last five meetings with Kentucky and hold a 79-24 all-time edge against their rivals to the north. For Kendrick, who grew up in Knoxville during a 26-year Tennessee winning streak in the series, the rivalry’s mantra is clear.
“I don’t know when the past time they beat us was,” he said. “Dooley’s last year, maybe? Dooley’s second-to-last year? They haven’t gotten us in a while, and obviously I’d like to keep that streak going. But obviously they’ve got a good team.”
Since 1984, Tennessee has lost just once to Kentucky in football. That happened in 2011, when the second of three Vols teams coached by Derek Dooley fell 10-7 to a Wildcats team that used a wide receiver, Matt Roark, at quarterback.
Tennessee has averaged a 22-point margin of victory over Kentucky in the five meetings since.
Tonight’s 7:30 game at Lexington’s Kroger Field is shaping up to be a bit more dramatic.
Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 Southeatern Conference) is a four-point favorite over the Volunteers (3-4, 0-4), who have failed to score an offensive touchdown during a three-game losing streak that has placed fifth-year coach Butch Jones on the hot seat.
“We take pride in beating them, to be honest with you.” — BRETT KENDRICK
“Tennessee is not OK with being 3-4, and definitely Butch Jones is not OK with being 3-4,” Jones said this week. “We have to keep working and work our way through this and work our way out of this.”
Doing so will require the offense to climb out of its rut without leading rusher and pass-catcher John Kelly, whom Jones suspended for tonight’s game after Kelly and freshman linebacker Will Ignont were cited for misdemeanor drug charges during a Tuesday night traffic stop.
During Tennessee’s three-game losing streak, its opponents have dominated time of possession and run a substantially higher number of plays than the Volunteers. In 38-point loss at top-ranked Alabama last week, the Vols ran 46 plays to the Crimson Tide’s 86. A Tennessee defense lacking quality depth played well early in all three games before tiring down the stretch in each as the offense had trouble staying on the field.
“You’ve got to finish blocks; you’ve got to catch the football,” offensive coordinator Larry Scott said this week. “It comes down to execution. Then the challenge for us as coaches is to continue to figure out why we aren’t executing in those situations and fix it, get it fixed. There’s no other way to do it.”
Saving Jones’ job could require the team to win five straight games to close the regular season. After the Kentucky game, Tennesssee faces Southern Mississippi, Missouri, LSU and Vanderbilt.
Vols backup quarterback Quinten Dormady (shoulder) did not make the trip. The backup tonight, if needed, will be true freshman Will McBride.
“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Jones said.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@ timesfreepress.com.